Fyodor Pavlovitch and his two wives
The Brothers Karamazov family tree starts with one man. Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov is a landowner who began with almost nothing and died with a hundred thousand roubles in cash, and the narrator calls him one of the most senseless fellows in the district.1
His first wife, Adelaïda Ivanovna, came from the rich Miüsov family and eloped with him. She later ran away to Petersburg with a destitute divinity student and died there in a garret, leaving her son Dmitri behind.1 Her cousin Pyotr Alexandrovitch Miüsov took the boy from the servant’s cottage for a time and then passed him to a cousin in Moscow.2
The second wife, Sofya Ivanovna, was an orphan, the daughter of an obscure deacon, brought up by a general’s widow. She bore Ivan and Alyosha and died when Alyosha was in his fourth year.3 On this Brothers Karamazov family tree each wife therefore has her own line of sons, and the half brothers grew up apart.
Dmitri, Ivan and Alyosha on the family tree
None of the three brothers on the Brothers Karamazov family tree was raised by his father. The old servant Grigory washed and cared for the three-year-old Dmitri for almost a year after the first wife left, and later looked after Ivan and Alyosha too.6 The general’s widow then came to take the two younger boys, and on her death they passed to her heir, Yefim Petrovitch Polenov.3
Dmitri grew up to be an army officer who believed he had property from his mother. His claim to that money is the first quarrel of the novel.2 Ivan became a clever student who wrote articles for the papers.3 Alyosha, whom the narrator calls his hero, entered the monastery as a novice under the elder Zossima.34
All three are called Fyodorovitch, son of Fyodor. That patronymic is the plainest way to read the Brothers Karamazov family tree, since a Russian name carries the father’s name inside it.
Smerdyakov, the son the family tree leaves unsure
Lizaveta, a homeless holy fool of the town, was found one night giving birth in Fyodor Pavlovitch’s bath-house and died before dawn. The town believed that Fyodor Pavlovitch was the father, and he denied it.7
Grigory and his wife Marfa took the child, whose own baby with six fingers had died. Fyodor Pavlovitch named the boy Smerdyakov after his mother’s nickname, and he grew up to be the cook and valet of the house.6710
This Brothers Karamazov family tree draws Smerdyakov under his mother alone, because the novel never settles who his father was. A grey dashed line from Fyodor Pavlovitch carries the rumour, and a green line from Grigory marks the servant who raised him.
Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka
Two women stand beside the brothers. Katerina Ivanovna is betrothed to Dmitri, who once gave her 4,500 roubles to cover a deficit in her father’s army accounts.8 Grushenka, called Agrafena Alexandrovna, is loved by Dmitri and courted by his own father, who keeps three thousand roubles in an envelope for her.9
Ivan loves Katerina Ivanovna, and she loves him while she keeps her promise to his brother.11 The two loves cross on the Brothers Karamazov family tree as lines that join people of the same generation, which is why the chart sets both women beside Dmitri.
Names and nicknames on the Brothers Karamazov family tree
Readers of the novel lose their way among the names more often than among the relations. Each character on the Brothers Karamazov family tree has a full name, a short form and sometimes a nickname, all used in the Garnett text.
| Character | Full name | Also called |
|---|---|---|
| Fyodor | Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov | The old man |
| Dmitri | Dmitri Fyodorovitch Karamazov | Mitya |
| Ivan | Ivan Fyodorovitch Karamazov | Ivan Fyodorovitch |
| Alyosha | Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov | Alyosha |
| Smerdyakov | Pavel Fyodorovitch Smerdyakov | Son of Stinking Lizaveta |
| Grushenka | Agrafena Alexandrovna Svyetlov | Grushenka |
| Katerina | Katerina Ivanovna | Katya |
The Brothers Karamazov family tree part by part
Each card gives the changes to the Brothers Karamazov family tree at the end of a part. The cards name deaths and the murderer, so read each one after its part.
Part I
The family meets at the monastery
Spoiler note. The quarrel over money and Grushenka begins.
- Father and sons meet in the cell of the elder Zossima, and the meeting ends in a scandal.
- Dmitri tells Alyosha that he and his father both want Grushenka.
Part II
Pro and contra
Spoiler note. Ivan sets out his ideas.
- Ivan tells Alyosha his poem of the Grand Inquisitor.
- Ivan leaves for Moscow on the eve of the crime.
Part III
The murder and the arrest
Spoiler note. Fyodor Pavlovitch dies.
- Zossima dies, and Alyosha leaves the monastery for the world.
- Fyodor Pavlovitch is found murdered, and Dmitri is arrested at Mokroe beside Grushenka.
Part IV
The confession and the verdict
Spoiler note. The murderer is named.
- Smerdyakov tells Ivan that he killed their father, and hangs himself the same night.
- The jury finds Dmitri guilty on every count.
Epilogue
Escape and the stone
Spoiler note. The ending is told in full.
- Ivan and Katerina Ivanovna plan Dmitri’s escape to America with Grushenka.
- Alyosha speaks to the boys at the stone after the funeral of Ilusha.
How to read this Brothers Karamazov family tree
A square is a man and a circle is a woman. A line between a couple with a line down to the children is a marriage, and a single line down from Lizaveta shows a mother with no husband on the chart.
The coloured lines are relationships. Dmitri and his father are rivals, Ivan and Smerdyakov share a secret, and the line from Smerdyakov to Fyodor Pavlovitch turns into a killing at Part IV. A ring in a faction colour shows who belongs to the Karamazov house, the Miüsov family, the servants’ cottage and the monastery.
To build a Brothers Karamazov family tree of your own, open the chart in the editor from this page or start from the story charts. The symbols are explained in the genogram symbols.
Questions about the Brothers Karamazov family tree
How many sons are on the Brothers Karamazov family tree
Three by his two wives, Dmitri by the first and Ivan and Alyosha by the second. The town counts Smerdyakov as a fourth.37
People and sources
A page of its own lists all 14 characters on the chart, each with a short note and the sources for it, and the 21 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the pictures and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.